Coming Home: A Gaara Love Story
by SilverRyou13
Summary: Sakana is an orphan who has never known her true family. When she travels to Konoha for the first time her life is changed forever.
1. A Moonlit Song

Chapter 1: A Moonlight Song

**Sakana could hear the wind howling outside her window. It was the third sandstorm this week. Sighing, she wondered if she would ever get used to them. Even though she had been living in Suna for three years now, the powerful winds still unnerved her. She reached up and untied her long black hair and began to brush it. **

**For the umpteenth time that day she thought about tomorrow and her team's journey to Konoha. Again she wondered if she was ready for the Chuunin exams. Baki-sensei's words floated into her mind. "Sakana I do believe you are ready. Your water ninjutsu will surprise the other ninja and your taijutsu and genjutsu are superb." His words comforted her. Smiling, she put down her brush and glanced outside. The sandstorm had stopped and the full moon was high in the sky. **

**Suddenly, she heard someone on the roof. Her smile turned into a serious expression. Turning out her lights she opened her window and quietly walked up the wall. The rooftop was bathed in moonlight, illuminating a shaggy-haired figure sitting near the edge of the roof. It didn't take long to realize who it was. **

**Sakana often saw her teammate Gaara sitting on the roofs of various buildings in Suna, but this was the first time he'd ever appeared on the roof of her apartment building. She walked over to him and said, "Hi, Gaara-san." As she expected, he didn't jump, but just turned his head to face her. "May I join you" she asked. He nodded slowly, as if he hadn't expected her to ask. She sat down next to him and looked up at the moon. **

**After a while Gaara spoke. "I heard someone singing here last night. Do you know who it was?" **

**The question surprised her because she had been the one singing; it was a song her foster mother taught her, 'The Beautiful Mists.' Sakana nodded. "It was me." **

"**Do you think you could sing it again?" he asked. **

**She smiled softly and started to sing. **

**She finished and turned to Gaara. His face still held no emotion, but she could tell he was grateful for her singing. **

**Feeling tired, Sakana stood up and said, "I'm going to bed now; I'll see you tomorrow morning Gaara-san. Goodnight." Returning to her room, she closed the window, slipped into her sleeping kimono and laid down on her bed. Soon sleep was upon her.  
**

**Gaara's POV **

**He watched as Sakana walked back down the wall and then returned his gaze to the moon. Briefly, he wondered why she was so kind to him. Sakana was the only one who treated him like he was normal. His father wanted to kill him, his siblings feared him and his mother died hating him. But there was one difference between them and Sakana - she didn't know about Shukaku. He didn't want to think about what she would do or say if she ever found out; for some reason the idea greatly disturbed him. **


	2. The Beautiful Mists

**The Beautiful Mists **

**Come find me  
Search for me  
For I'm lost  
And so alone  
I'm trapped  
Trapped here  
In the beauty of the mists  
Where are you  
Are you near  
Are you searching for me  
As I'm searching for you  
I wish you were right here  
Beside me  
Here in these beautiful mists  
Despite their beauty, they are deadly  
They are deceiving beautiful mists  
They lead you away  
From where you are headed  
They hide things from you  
In their coldness  
The coldness of reality  
Because of them  
I can't find  
What I'm searching for  
Come find me  
Search for me  
For I'm lost  
And so alone  
I'm trapped  
Trapped in the beauty of the mists**


	3. Traveling to Konoha

Sakana woke to the sound of knocking. Slowly she crawled out of bed, already guessing who it was. When she opened the door standing there was her best friend, and the oldest member of her team, Temari.

"Morning, Sakana-chan," she said, smiling. "Don't forget we have to meet at the gates at 10 a.m. sharp."

Sakana nodded. "Okay, I'll see you there."

"I'm off to go wake up Kankuro nii-chan," Temari said, sighing.

"Well, good luck with that," Sakana laughed. "I'll see you at the gates." She closed the door and went to get ready.

Coming out of her shower fully awake, Sakana quickly changed into her traveling clothes, grabbed her kunai and strapped her shuriken pouch to her right thigh. She then seized the pack that she'd put together last night and jumped out her window, making her way quickly to the gates.

When Sakana appeared Gaara was already there - always the first one to arrive anywhere. He walked over to her and slipped something into her hand. "Thank you for last night...Sakana-chan," he said to her quietly. He then went back to where he'd been standing. She blushed; that was the first time Gaara had ever called her "chan" before. Opening her hand, Sakana gasped at the beautiful rose necklace he'd given her. It was intricately carved and completely made of sand.

As she slipped it on she looked up at Gaara and mouthed "Thank you" to him. A small smile played across his face, but quickly disappeared with the arrival of the rest of the team. Kankuro still didn't seem quite awake, and Temari looked alert but annoyed, probably from having to deal with Kankuro – who was anything BUT a morning person."

"Are we all ready?" Baki asked. "I want to try and get to Konoha before sundown." They all nodded. "Then let's get going." He turned, leading them out of the village and into the desert.

Fast-forward to Konoha  
Sakana was completely out of breath; they had made it to Konoha in record time. She slowly began to inhale deeply through her nose and out her mouth, feeling the rhythm of her heart slow to a normal pace. As she did this an odd sense of déjà vu washed over her. She must have looked as confused as she felt, because Temari stopped and walked back to where Sakana stood.

"Everything okay?" her friend asked.

Sakana began to nod, but then shook her head instead.

Temari laughed. "Well, which is it? Yes or no?"

"It's weird," Sakana replied. "I feel like…I've been here before."

"It's probably just nerves" Temari replied, shrugging. "C'mon we'd better catch up with the others or we'll lose them. Could Baki-sensei go any faster?"

Quickly rejoining their teammates, the girls dutifully followed their sensei into the leaf village.

Gaara's POV  
"So this is Konoha," he thought to himself, conspicuously looking back at Sakana. She was having an avid conversation with his sister, and he could see the necklace he had given her hanging gently around her neck. Inwardly Gaara smiled, knowing that she'd never have to take it off because the sand he'd used to create the rose would never crumble or break. He then looked back to Baki, who diligently led them further into the village.


	4. Getting Settled

As they wound their way through the streets of Konoha, four colossal stone faces towered overhead. "Baki-sensei, who are those people carved into the mountain?" Sakana inquired.

Without looking up, he answered, "They are the Hokages." Sakana nodded, remembering the many stories she'd heard both in Suna and Kiri about the strength and wisdom of those four men.

Soon they came upon an official-looking building. Baki presented their IDs to the guards at the door and they were ushered in by one of them; he had brown hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail and a thin scar across his nose. The man led them to a simple door and escorted the team through.

Inside sat an elderly man, who watched them silently as they entered. He was wearing red and white robes and a red hat. "So this is the Hokage," Sakana thought to herself.

"Welcome to Konoha, sand ninja," the old man said kindly.

Baki bowed. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. This is my team, Temari-san, Kankuro-san, Gaara-san and Sakana-san," He gestured to each of them in turn.

The Hokage nodded respectfully to them. "I'm looking forward to seeing all of you compete, but for now you must be tired. I will have someone show you to your rooms. Iruka!" he said, raising his voice slightly on the last word.

Sakana realized that this had to be the name of the man who had shown them in because he quickly re-appeared in the doorway. "Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"Would you show our guests to their rooms?"

"Oh, of course! Come with me, please," he said, turning.

Sakana's team bowed respectfully to the Hokage and then followed Iruka as he led them through the winding streets of Konoha.

It wasn't long before they arrived at what seemed to be a large hotel. Iruka talked briefly with the woman at the desk and then quickly returned to them. "Your rooms are 9 through 13. I hope they suit you. Good luck on the exams!" he finished with a friendly smile before disappearing back out the door.

Baki turned to them and said, "Meet me at the Eastern gates in half an hour for a bit of training. Until then do whatever you want." Then he too disappeared.

Temari turned to Sakana and said, "Do you want to go get settled?" Sakana nodded and followed the older girl up to their rooms. Temari took room 10, while Sakana took room 11. It was very nice with a bed, kitchen area and bathroom - only a little smaller than her own apartment back in Suna. Sakana laid out a few things from her pack and then decided to go for a walk, leaping nimbly out of her window and onto the ground below.

There were so many things to see that she had a hard time keeping her eyes on the road, and it wasn't long before she accidentally knocked someone over. "Omigosh, I'm so sorry" she said, offering a hand to the boy now sitting in the dirt. Onyx eyes flashed across her face and then promptly ignored her as he stood up on his own. Sakana tried again as he lightly brushed dirt off of his blue shirt and white shorts. "I'm very sorry; that was completely my fault."

"Hn," was the only reply she got before the boy walked off in the opposite direction.

Sakana watched him go, wondering what his problem was, when she noticed something strangely familiar on the back of his shirt – a red and white symbol, shaped like a fan. The image tugged at her memory, but she didn't know why. "Come to think of it, he looks familiar too…" she thought to herself. "But I'm sure we've never met before…have we?"


	5. Confrontation

After shaking her head a little in confusion, Sakana decided to keep exploring. About five minutes later she passed a bookshop and couldn't resist stepping inside; she had always loved to read. When she entered, a woman with long brown hair and bright green eyes approached her. She was wearing a red top with a black jacket and black shorts. "Hello there, you must be one of the Genin here for the exams," she said pleasantly.

"Yes," Sakana answered, smiling.

"Welcome to my shop! I'm Nagataki Emiko"

"Mizuko Sakana. Nice to meet you, Nagataki-san."

"You as well," Emiko replied. "Is there anything particular you're looking for?"

"No, not really; I was just wandering around. My team and I only arrived today."

"Ah, I see. So you're from the Sand Village?" Emiko asked, sitting down in a nearby chair. Sakana nodded as Emiko gestured to the chair next to her and Sakana took a seat. "How old are you and your teammates?

"Well, Temari is 16 and she's the oldest, Kankuro is 15, Gaara is 13 and I'm 12, but I'm having my birthday soon," she replied.

"Well then, since I may not get the chance to tell you later, happy birthday!" Emiko said, smiling.

Sakana smiled back. "Thank you!"

Emiko studied her for a second then said, "You know, this may sound odd, but you look a lot like one of the Genin here in Konoha. You'll probably see him around; I'm pretty sure his sensei is planning on entering his team in the Chuunin exams, too."

"Really!? I wonder…" Sakana trailed off, thinking hard. Although she had mainly come for the exam, she also had an ulterior motive. Her family was still out there somewhere, she was certain of it! After years of thoroughly searching Suna, she knew no one had lost or abandoned a girl 13 years ago. Could the boy Emiko was talking about be a relative? Was Konoha her birthplace? "I don't suppose you could tell me his name?" Sakana asked.

"Sure! It's Uchiha Sasuke," Emiko replied.

"I'll have to keep an eye out for him then…" Sakana said.

Suddenly she heard Kankuro's voice coming loudly from the other side of a fence across from the shop. She could also hear Temari along with several voices she didn't recognize. Two of them seemed to be girls and the others were boys. "Um, could you excuse me? I think I hear my team getting into trouble; I should probably go stop them," Sakana said, standing.

"Do you need some help?" Emiko asked, looking concerned as she also stood.

"No, I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you for the chat, Nagataki-san."

"Anytime, Mizuko-san" Emiko said, waving as she left.

Sakana exited the shop and jumped up onto the fence to get a better view. She shook her head as she realized what was going on. Kankuro had a boy who couldn't be any older than six or seven hoisted up in one of his hands. Temari was trying to calm him down but wasn't doing so well. Across from them were the sources of the other voices. There was a girl who seemed about the same age as the boy Kankuro was holding, and another young boy with brown hair and glasses. There was also an older girl about Sakana's age who had long pink hair and clear green eyes, and a boy who had spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes. Both the older girl and boy were wearing leaf headbands. All four of them were obviously friends with the little boy being dangled by Kankuro.

Just as she was about to jump down from the fence, a rock flew from nowhere and hit Kankuro on the hand causing him to drop the boy. She quickly turned towards the nearby tree, where the rock had come from, and saw someone who made her gasp. It was the same boy she had bumped into just a little while ago.

"You're a long way from home and way out of your league," the boy said while tossing another stone up and down in his hand.

"Sasuke-kun!" the pink- haired girl shouted, getting hearts in her eyes.

Sakana inwardly sweat-dropped. "This guy has fan girls?!" she thought to herself. She noticed Temari getting an interested look in her eyes at the sight of the boy. Wait…Sasuke? Was he the one Nagataki-san had been talking about? The boy that supposedly looked like her?

While Kankuro was distracted the little boy ran back to the older blond, who asked, "Are you alright Konohamaru-kun?"

Sakana looked back to Sasuke. He crushed the stone he had previously been tossing and said to her teammates, "Get lost." Sensing the situation could get ugly pretty quickly, she made her move, jumping down next to Temari.

"Hey Sakana-chan, where have you been?" Temari asked.

"I was out walking until I heard Kankuro's big mouth," she said, glaring at the subject of her statement. Kankuro shrugged, unashamed, and she looked away rolling her eyes. Sakana turned to the people standing across from them and said, "I'm sorry about Kankuro, he has anger management issues."

"I have WHAT, Sakana-bozu?" Kankuro yelled at her.

She turned to him and calmly stated, "You need to learn to control your temper." Sakana knew from experience that she'd hit a nerve.

Kankuro was pulling his puppet Crow off of his back, getting ready for a fight, when suddenly a familiar voice said, "Kankuro, back off."

All eyes flashed to the tree and she smiled a small smile when she saw Gaara standing upside-down across the trunk from Sasuke. Judging by Sasuke's face she could tell he hadn't seen or heard Gaara's arrival. "You're an embarrassment to our village," the sand ninja said emotionlessly.

"Hey there… Gaara-san" Kankuro said hesitantly.

"Have you forgotten the reason the four of us came all the way here?" Gaara asked quietly.

Sakana realized that it was best to stay out of this. When Gaara started to get mad it kind of scared her. And this wasn't the first time that Kankuro had acted so afraid of his brother.

"Well, you see…umm… Sakana-" Kankuro started, only to get interrupted by a "Shut up" from Gaara. She could almost see Kankuro shaking.

Gaara turned his head and stared at Sasuke, who stared back almost defiantly. "I'm sorry for any trouble he caused," Gaara said before using his sand to teleport down between Sakana and Temari. "Let's go. Baki-sensei is probably waiting for us already."

Sakana nodded, but looked back up at Sasuke. He really did look a lot like her, except for the eyes.

"Come on, Sakana-chan" Temari said, grabbing her hand.

"Yeah…" she said slowly, turning to follow Gaara.

"Wait up!" a female voice called to her.

Sakana didn't turn around. "What is it?"

"Judging by your headbands you're ninjas from Sunagakure, right?" the girl asked. When met with only silence, she went on. "The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind have an alliance, but a treaty prevents their ninjas from entering each others lands without permission. State your purpose!"

Sakana turned and said, "The answer you're looking for is closer than you think. Haven't you heard the news?" She reached into her side pack and pulled out her ID. "We all have traffic passes; we came to Konoha to take the Chuunin exams."

"Chuunin exams? What are the Chuunin exams?" the blond boy asked.

"You all really must not know," Kankuro said cockily.

"Naruto nii-san, you can advance from a Genin to a Chuunin if you pass the exams," one of the little boys said. Sakana inwardly giggled at the fact that the little kid knew more than a Genin.

"Really? Then I should take it too!" the boy Naruto said.

Gaara started to jump away when suddenly Sasuke jumped down from the tree and said, "Hey you, identify yourself."

"Who? You mean me?" Temari asked, almost hopefully.

"No him, the guy with the gourd on his back," Sasuke said, pointing to Gaara.

Sakana turned to Gaara, wondering how he would react.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara. I'm curious about you as well. Who are you?" Gaara answered coolly.

"Hn…I'm Uchiha Sasuke" the other boy said with a smirk.

So it was him - the one Emiko had mentioned. Sakana looked at the two of them as they stared each other down, almost fiercely, and thought to herself, "Well, it looks like we've found some competition. And maybe I've found a clue to my past…"

Gaara's POV  
Gaara was busy glaring at Uchiha when suddenly the annoying voice of the blond boy standing next to him said "Hey, I bet you're dying to know my name." The Suna ninja barely glanced at him and said, "I couldn't care less."

He turned around to leave, but noticed Sakana pause and glance back at Sasuke. For some unknown reason this made him angry, but he kept it down. Temari grabbed Sakana's hand and his team moved off in the direction of the gates.


	6. The Sparring Match

The whole way to the gates Sakana's mind was on the outspoken, raven-haired boy named Sasuke. Why was he so familiar to her when she was sure they had never met before? And the symbol on his back seemed familiar, too...She continued to play with these thoughts even after arriving at their designated meeting place. She knew Baki-sensei was talking, but she couldn't seem to focus on his words.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Temari. "Sakana-chan, are you with us?" she asked, an amused look on her face.

"Gomen, I was…thinking about something," she replied, blushing softly. "What did I miss?"

"Baki-sensei asked us to spar - you and me."

The three men stood off to the side as the two friends positioned themselves. "Okay then. Temari-chan, Sakana-chan, get ready," Baki-sensei said.

Temari removed her fan and rested it lightly against a nearby tree, not wanting to destroy the terrain. Even without it Sakana knew her friend was a tough customer, but then again, so was she. They got into their fighting stances and waited for Baki's signal to start.

"Begin!" he shouted.

Sakana took a few running steps towards Temari and did a forward wheel kick which connected solidly with Temari's head. Then she sent a kick at her stomach, launching the older girl into the air. Temari quickly recovered and threw a volley of shuriken at her. Sakana pulled out a kunai to knock the shuriken aside, and then threw it at her. The blade cut Temari's shoulder and she winced, distracted. By the time her teammate hit the ground, Sakana was already behind her with a knife to her throat. The entire match had lasted a matter of seconds.

Sakana helped Temari up and they both stood at attention in front of Baki. He nodded and said, "You two are ready. That was an excellent match."

A smile spread across Sakana's face as she and Temari both bowed respectfully to him. "Arigato, Baki-sensei," they said.

Sakana then turned to Temari and asked to see her shoulder. Fortunately, the wound from her kunai wasn't deep. She made a sign and her hand glowed blue with chakra. She then placed it against Temari's shoulder, easily healing the cut.

"Thanks, Sakana-chan," Temari said when she was done.

"No problem, Temari-chan," she replied, smiling. Sakana had been a healer since she was four; she had even learned from the best in Suna, Lady Chiyo - a quirky, but good sensei.

After another hour or so of practice Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were dismissed, but Sakana stayed behind. Baki-sensei had promised to help her with some of the more difficult jutsus she'd been attempting to learn. When they finally stopped practicing it was nearly dark and they were both worn out.

"Well done today, Sakana-chan. You are most definitely ready. The first part of the exam is tomorrow at 9 a.m. sharp, so don't be late."

She straightened up and nodded. "I won't be. Goodnight, sensei." Then she turned and started back to the hotel.

Once she was back inside the village, Sakana jumped onto a nearby rooftop and ran swiftly from building to building. She knew when she reached the right one because she saw Gaara sitting quietly on the roof. She slowed and walked over to him. "Goodnight Gaara-san." He turned his head and nodded to her. She jumped down from the roof, took her shoes off and placed them next to Temari's. Feeling more tired by the second, Sakana quickly made her way up to her room where she gratefully changed into her sleeping kimono and collapsed onto the bed. She closed her eyes, relaxing every part of her body. Suddenly, the symbol on Sasuke's back swam into her mind's eye. Its familiarity was beginning to annoy her! Why did she recognize it!? But before Sakana could think about anything any further, sleep overtook her.


	7. Getting Acquainted

Sun streaming though the open window prickled across Sakana's eyelids, waking her. She sat up and stretched slowly, glancing at the clock on the wall - 8:15, perfect timing. She swung out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up, coming out fully dressed and ready to go. Sakana locked her room and headed to the hotel's entrance where both Baki and Gaara were already waiting.

She noticed that Temari and Kankuro's shoes were gone, and seeing her confused expression Baki said, "They went to get some breakfast. They should be back soon."

She nodded and leaned back against the wall to wait. Her gaze drifted as she thought about the upcoming exams, but even without any conscious thought involved her eyes finally settled on Gaara. She instinctively fingered the necklace he had given to her, rough and cool in her hand. Had he made it? Could he really like her like that? She felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks as she thought about it. For a while now she'd had a bit of a crush on him, but he'd never shown any indication of liking her back until now.

Shortly after Sakana's arrival, Kankuro and Temari appeared.

"Here Sakana-chan, I got you some raisins!" Temari called, tossing her a bag.

"Arigato, Temari-chan!" Sakana said, catching it. Raisins were one of her favorite foods, along with natto and dango.

"Okay, we're all here. Let's get going," Baki said.

Sakana ate her raisins while she walked, and soon they arrived at a tall building with a sign that read "Ninja Academy" and bore the symbol of the Hidden Leaf.

"I can't go in with you, so I will see everyone afterwards. Good luck," Baki said before disappearing.

Sakana looked at all of her teammates, and after a slightly uncomfortable silence Gaara took the lead as they all walked into the building together. They were supposed to be in room 309 on the third floor. The first thing she noticed as they reached the second floor was a genjutsu someone had cast on one of the rooms to make it look like 309. It didn't fool any of her teammates of course and they walked directly past it up to the real 309. They entered and found a room full of parallel desks all facing a chalkboard at the front, while the wall to their left was mainly windows. There were only two other teams there that, like she and her friends, hadn't been tricked – one from the Land of Sound, the other from the Land of Grass. Sakana immediately went and sat near the row of windows, looking out across the already bustling village streets. Doing this calmed her nerves, which were steadily growing more jittery. Slowly more teams trickled in; the last being made up of Sasuke, Naruto, and the pink-haired girl from the day before. She told Temari that she'd be right back and walked over to them.

"Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday," she said sincerely.

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke and his team had barely arrived when they were approached by the petite sand kunoichi who had literally run into him yesterday.

"Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday," she said, addressing Naruto and Sakura. "I hope that Konohamaru is alright."

Sakura spoke up. "Its okay, no one was seriously hurt. I'm Haruno Sakura, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Sakura-san, I'm Mizuko Sakana."

"Mizuko…that's an odd name for a sand ninja," Sasuke thought to himself.

"And I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said loudly next to him.

Sakana smiled at him then turned to Sasuke. "Your name is Uchiha Sasuke right?" she asked.

He nodded, eyeing the girl more carefully than he had the other day. Sakura was right; she was like a petite female form of himself - they had the same dark hair, pale skin and dark eyes. She reminded him of his mother. But she was shorter than even Naruto and seemed younger than him, too.

"I don't mean to intrude, but I was wondering what that symbol on your shirt stood for," she asked him.

He paused, wanting to tell her it was none of her business, but almost unconsciously he found himself saying, "It's the symbol of my clan, the Uchiha…I'm the only one left in Konoha."

"Oh, I'm very sorry… I shouldn't have asked…" Sakana said looking down, a faint blush on her cheeks. She seemed about to say something else, but was interrupted by the entrance of a tall, muscular man dressed all in black.

"My name is Morino Ibiki and I'm going to be your worst nightmare!" he shouted, glaring viciously across the room.


	8. The Written Exam

Sakana nodded to Sasuke and his team, saying "Excuse me, I need to return to my teammates now."

Sakana eyed their first examiner and the ninja that stood lined up behind him carefully, when suddenly she noticed a familiar face. It was Emiko Nagataki, the bookshop owner she'd met the other day. So, she was a ninja, too? All of the other examiners looked serious, but Emiko was subtly, yet happily waving at Naruto, giving him a thumb's up sign. Almost as if she sensed someone watching, the woman glanced in Sakana's direction and their eyes met. Recognition in her eyes, Emiko waved to Sakana, too, and mouthed the words "good luck", but before Sakana could respond, Ibiki cleared his throat and glared meaningfully at Emiko. Sakana suppressed a laugh as the older woman immediately stopped waving and took on a chastened look, but then winked at her as soon as Ibiki's head was turned. Sakana cautiously winked back and then focused her attention on their examiner as he began explaining the first exam.

They quickly learned that it was a written test of 9 questions which they'd be given an hour to complete. Ibiki would then ask the tenth and final question during the last ten minutes. The other ninja who stood behind him were there to make sure no one cheated. Sakana was slightly worried. The written exams she'd taken in Kiri had been very difficult, and if Konoha's test was similar even she might have some trouble.

As she and her team got into line for their numbers, Sakana scanned the crowd. To her dismay there was no swish of the high blonde ponytail worn by her old friend Sen or the coppery hair of Sen's brother, Ryu. In fact, she didn't see any mist ninja at all. Receiving the number 25, Sakana took her seat and looked around, trying to locate her teammates. Gaara was across from her in the center row, Kankuro was two rows behind him and Temari was on the far side of the room.

Suddenly someone blocked her view and took the seat next to her on the left. She blinked, realizing it was Sasuke. He nodded to her before turning to focus on Ibiki, who called out one final reminder, "Do NOT get caught cheating. Begin!"

Sakana grabbed her pencil and looked down at the test. A smile spread across her face when she read the questions. They were easy; the tests in Kiri had been much harder. Finishing in about ten minutes, Sakana subtly glanced around, not wanting to be mistaken for cheating, and noticed that Gaara was beginning to perform his third eye jutsu. Next to her Sasuke mumbled something that sounded like "sharingan". She watched his eyes shift from onyx to red as he stared intensely at a boy in front of him. Sharingan…that sounded so familiar to her… Why where there so many things about Konoha that gave her déjà vu, and why did they all seem to revolve around Uchiha Sasuke. Sakana's heart beat a little faster as she heard a number called, sighing in relief when she realized that it wasn't one of her teammates who'd been eliminated.

Leaning back she closed her eyes and thought back to her days in Kiri. She recalled her friends, Sen and Ryu Rakurai; Sakana often wondered how they were doing. Sen and her younger brother, who was Sakana's age, had been her best friends; she had even had a crush on Ryu for a while. A smile danced across her lips as a funny memory played out in her mind.

*flashback*

Sakana trudged along the road to the academy on a cool, misty morning. She was wearing one of her heavier cloaks because it looked like it might rain. Next to her walked Sen, who was using a genjutsu that gave her a short-haired appearance, and next to Sen was Ryu. It was the day of the Genin exams, and when they reached the academy Sen spontaneously said, "Hugs for good luck on the exam today!" She hugged both Sakana and Ryu then turned, expecting them to hug – no doubt one of her many attempts at getting the two of them together.

"I'm going to kill you the first chance I get, Sen!" Sakana thought.

When neither of them made a move, Sen deftly shoved Sakana into Ryu, forcing them to hug to keep from toppling over. Sakana blushed furiously, but enjoyed it all the same.

*end flashback*

Sen had been the oldest in their group, having failed her previous attempt at becoming a Genin, but she managed to pass at the same time as Sakana and Ryu. Surprisingly, they were all assigned to the same team. She would actually still have been with them had it not been for the sudden, surprising order from the Mizukage.

*flashback*

Sakana ran home as fast as she could, her new headband tied proudly to her forehead. When she got there she discovered her parents, Koji and Tsukino, in the living room reading a scroll with grim expressions. They looked up when she entered and her mother started to cry. She ran over to Sakana and hugged her, still crying.

"Okaa-san what's wrong?" Sakana asked.

Her mother looked down at Sakana, her hazel eyes filled with tears.

"We just got a letter from the Mizukage…" her father said, coming up next to her. "We have been ordered to send you to Sunagakure."

"What?!" Sakana said her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You have to leave in two days," her father said, hugging her tightly.

She too started to cry. She couldn't leave now! She'd just turned ten; just become a Genin; just hugged Ryu for the first time! Why did she have to go?!

*end flashback*

Sakana's departure had been tearful, to say the least, but Sen and Ryu had both come to see her off. They hugged her tightly and each gave her something to remember them by. Sen had given her a crescent moon necklace and Ryu had given her a portrait of the three of them together. She still had the portrait, but Kankuro had broken the necklace out of spite when she beat him in their first sparring match.

Sakana and her mother had rode horses to Suna, where they were met by the Kazekage, Baki and the people who would become her new teammates. Her mother helped tie on her new sand headband, but when she tried to hand her daughter the old one, Sakana gently pushed it back into the woman's hands. "Please don't forget me, okaa-san."

"We won't, Sakana musume-chan," she had said, holding her in her arms one last time before re-mounting her horse and riding off into the desert.

She was jerked from her memories by Ibiki shouting "Time's up! I will now deliver the final question. The final question is optional. Those who don't want to take it should simply raise their hands. They will be disqualified. But those who do decide to take it be warned, if you get it wrong you will be banned from ever taking this exam again and will remain a Genin for the rest of your life."

Sakana decided to stay; after all, the questions on the test had been easy enough for her, so how much harder could this one be? Many others raised their hands and were disqualified. Suddenly, Sasuke tensed up. She noticed Naruto beginning to raise his hand, but then he quickly slammed it down on the desk and shouted, "No way am I giving up now, dattebayo!"

Next to her Sasuke shook his head, an amused yet annoyed look on his face. Evidently this was Naruto's normal behavior.

"Well then if no on else wants to leave then…," Ibiki paused. "Congratulations! All of you have passed the written portion of the exam!"

The whole room was filled with shocked faces as Ibiki went on to explain that the real test was to examintest their information gathering skills. Also he explained that there was no real tenth question and that it was just a trick to weed out those not willing to take risks. Sakana has basically made sense of it when someone suddenly burst though the row of windows. It was a woman with purple hair and a crazy smile, who introduced herself as Mitarashi Anko, the second examiner. She briefly told the remaining Genin that the next day they'd all take part in the second portion of the exam, the Forest of Death, and then they were dismissed for the day.


	9. The Mark

The thick, dank air closed in on Sakana as she and her team stepped into the Forest of Death. As they made their way further in, it wasn't long until the four of them were surrounded by near darkness. She chose to go a little slower than her teammates, wanting to keep an eye out for other squads or anything else that might prove menacing. The forest gave off a heavy, foreboding aura, as if something bad were going to happen any second. Then again, it wasn't called the Forest of Death for nothing, was it?

"Hey slowpoke, hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" Kankuro shouted back at her, even though she was only about two feet in back of them.

Sakana rolled her eyes and closed the distance a little. A half hour went by and still nothing had happened. Suddenly a male's scream reverberated through the ancient trees and a female one followed shortly after. She saw Temari and Kankuro look warily around them, but Gaara kept moving as if he hadn't even heard. Behind them a twig snapped. Already on edge, Sakana spun quickly throwing two shuriken in the direction of the noise, but they only thudded harmlessly against a nearby tree. Here eyes darted expertly around the area, searching for the source of her trepidation.

"What is it, Sakana-san?" Gaara asked, coming to stand beside her; Kankuro and Temari were close behind.

"I thought I heard something… but I guess it was nothing," she replied, hiding her apprehension as she turned to face them.

Suddenly her vision swam and she saw a white face with extremely sharp canines racing towards her. The same male scream rang out again, as pain jolted through her body. She screamed, her voice melding with the other as she grabbed reflexively at the left side of her neck.

"Sakana-chan!" Temari cried out, shocked.

Wave after wave of agonizing, gut-wrenching pain swept through her body, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Sakana started to fall, but as she gave in to the consuming darkness someone caught her and she gratefully fell into their arms, unconscious.

Gaara's POV

When Sakana started to fall he caught her, moving deftly down to the forest's ground level with her limp body cradled in his arms. Gaara laid his teammate carefully on the forest floor as his two siblings joined him. Temari gently moved Sakana's hand away from her neck and gasped. Hidden there was a pale, circular marking unlike anything any of them had seen, seared into her skin like an old scar or burn. Gaara was certain Sakana hadn't had it before, but what could have caused it?

"What are we going to do?" Temari said turning to him.

Silently, he uncorked the gourd on his back and carefully maneuvered enough sand underneath Sakana's unconscious form to lift her safely off the ground. Once it was done, he stood and said, "Let's get going."

FF to the tower, 20 minutes later

Gaara glanced at Sakana's body; she'd been shaking and sweating for the past several minutes with no sign of abatement, and according to Temari her forehead felt like it was on fire. The ninja who had welcomed them to the tower had already gone to get a medic, but it was Baki who arrived first.

"What happened?" he asked when he saw Sakana.

Gaara placed her body on the floor in front of him and their sensei knelt down next to her, feeling first her forehead and then her pulse. While Temari explained what they'd seen, Baki slowly examined the mark on her neck. At that moment a medic appeared who looked vaguely familiar…he thought she might be the same leaf ninja who'd been waving to Sakana before the written exam.

The woman kneeled, purple light slowly radiating from her hands as she moved them methodically over Sakana's body. A troubled look appeared on her face as she reached the strange mark on his teammate's neck. She turned to their sensei and said, "I've managed to lower her fever for the moment, but its rising again as we speak – annoyingly persistent…I haven't seen anything like this before." She then looked at Gaara and his siblings. "I need a detailed and precise description of what happened. Can one of you give me that?"

Temari spoke. "I just told Baki-sensei…"

"I don't want it second-hand," the woman interrupted firmly, ignoring or oblivious to the indignant glare Baki was giving her. "I need to know step by step, detail by detail. Can you do that?" she asked, staring seriously at Temari.

His sister nodded resolutely. "Yes, I can."

"Good." She turned to Baki. "If you could please carry Sakana, I need the both of you to follow me. Once we're in the medical ward and I've heard what her teammate has to say I should be able to make a more thorough diagnosis."

Baki nodded and cautiously lifted Sakana's body up, saying, "You have all done well. Temari, you're with me. Gaara, Kankuro, go get some rest."

They both watched as their sister and their sensei quickly followed the medic out of the forest. Gaara turned away, preparing to teleport onto the roof, but stopped suddenly as a strange feeling clenched his gut. Glancing back in the direction Baki had taken Sakana, he mused over the sensation. It had been a long time since he'd felt true fear, but for some reason he felt it now…


	10. Awakening

Temari's POV

Sighing, she walked down the long hallway to Sakana's hospital room; it had been two days and her friend was still unconscious. None of the medics knew what to do, despite the fact that Nagataki-san, the woman who'd helped Sakana in the forest, was working practically around the clock looking for answers. Every day Temari came to visit her, hoping there would be some change in Sakana's condition, but no one ever came with her. Kankuro didn't care about their teammate, but she wasn't so sure about her younger brother. Call it woman's intuition, but she had a feeling Gaara and Sakana might have thing for each other - both either too stubborn or too shy to confess.

As she entered Sakana's room, Temari was met with the familiar, annoying beep of the machine monitoring her friend's heart, but there was a change - it was beeping much faster than normal. Sakana was tossing and turning, beads of sweat on her forehead. Temari ran to her bedside and felt her forehead, but immediately jerked her hand back in disbelief. Sakana's skin was scalding to the touch! Running out of the room, Temari yelled for a medic as she ran down the hallway to the nearest nurse's station - Sakana's screams echoing behind her. Nagataki-san was at Temari's side in seconds, asking question after question as they raced back to Sakana's room. However, when they arrived they were met by an unusual, yet comforting sight. Gaara was standing next to Sakana's bed, softly hugging her while she clung fiercely to him, crying into his chest.

Sakana's POV

The vision started abruptly. Somewhere in a forest stood a young man surrounded by spiraling purple chakra. When he straightened up she saw that his skin was covered in shimmering flame-colored markings. As the purple chakra faded away she was surprised to see it was Sasuke! Sakura was on the ground, badly wounded, her hair jagged and bloody. Sakana watched horrified as Sasuke, with swift efficiency, dislocated the arms of a Sound ninja. When he began to scream, almost against her will, she did as well. Sakana felt her body jerk into a sitting position, hands holding her head, eyes wide, but the vision was still playing out in front of them.

She watched as Sakura ran up behind Sasuke and begged him to stop. Slowly, as the strange markings retracted on Sasuke's body, she came back to consciousness, abruptly realizing that her back was being rubbed by someone. She hugged the person around the middle and began to cry as they hesitantly hugged her back. But then she was softly being pushed into a different pair of urgent hands, which in turn laid her back onto the bed.

"Sakana-chan, can you hear me?" a familiar feminine voice asked.

Slowly her eyes opened and Temari's worried face came into view. "T-Temari-chan? What happened?" she asked weakly, confused.

Temari looked towards a far corner of the room and standing there was Gaara. His face, as usual, held no emotion, but his eyes betrayed concern and...could that be confusion? His shirt and sash were wet...with tears? "Was...was I just hugging Gaara?!" Sakana asked herself, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "And was he hugging me back?!"

"Welcome back to the world of the living," another voice said softly from her right, pulling her thoughts away from what had just happened. Sakana looked over to see Emiko standing there, smiling kindly.

"Emiko-san? Why are you here?"

"She's been taking care of you ever since you collapsed in the forest," Temari replied.

The older ninja shrugged. "The bookstore is my hobby, but healing people – that's my life. Which is why," she continued, looking pointedly at Gaara and Temari. "I'm going to have to ask your friends to leave, so we can have some quality doctor/patient time now that you're awake."

"But she's our teammate!" Temari argued. "Whatever you have to say can be said in front of all of us.

Emiko sighed, but was still smiling softly. "I suppose I could bend the rules just this once...if it's okay with you, Sakana?"

She nodded. "I'd really like it if they could stay."

All of Emiko's questions were simple and straightforward, although there were some about her family's medical history that she naturally couldn't answer, having never known them. She also asked a lot of questions about what had happened in the Forest of Death, too. Sakana told her everything she could remember, but said nothing about the visions she'd been having. She liked the older woman, but that wasn't the same as trust and she just couldn't bring herself to feel comfortable talking about what she'd seen.

Emiko left shortly after, promising to do to everything she could to figure out what was going on, but stating that Sakana shouldn't have any problems participating in the next stage of the Chuunin exams. She also told Sakana that after one more night of observation, she was free to go. Temari left soon after, needing to report Sakana's current condition to Baki, which left her nervously alone with the one person she should have been happy to be alone with – Gaara.


	11. Affection and Revelation

Gaara's POV

Worry coursed through Gaara's body, worry for Sakana. She still hadn't awoken and the medics were baffled by her condition. That night he was once again sitting up on the roof of the tower, watching the sky, the moon a shining crescent high above him. Suddenly a piercing scream split the night, one that was horribly familiar. Reacting quickly, Gaara teleported down to Sakana's hospital room, and was shocked by what he saw.

She was sitting upright, but her head was clenched tightly in her hands, deep blue eyes glazed over with fear and confusion. Not exactly knowing what to do, he cautiously approached the bed and began to rub her back in soft, circular motions, trying to calm her down. A couple of minutes passed when suddenly Sakana turned and wrapped her arms desperately around his waist, her tears staining his shirt and sash.

"Holy…Shukaku… Why is she hugging me?" he asked himself. Delicately, he wrapped his arms around Sakana's shoulders, holding her close as urgent footsteps arrived. Gaara looked up to see his sister enter with a medic following quickly behind – the same one who'd helped Sakana in the forest – he couldn't' remember her name. She hurried over, motioning to him as she went, and Gaara lightly pushed Sakana back into the medic's waiting arms as she rested his teammate gently back onto the bed and began using her healing arts to subdue the fever. Temari raised an eyebrow at him quizzically before turning around to direct her attention to Sakana. Gaara backed away into a corner of the room and watched from there.

"Sakana-chan, can you hear me?" Temari asked the seemingly unconscious girl.

Slowly Sakana's eyes opened and looked up at Temari. "T-Temari-chan? What happened?" he heard her say faintly.

Temari turned her head to look at him and Sakana's gaze followed her friend's. His icy sea-green eyes met her bottomless blue ones and he recognized a tumult of emotions in them - worry, confusion, but above all fear. However, when she realized what had occurred between them only moments before he saw shock, too, before a slight blush dusted her cheeks.

After asking far too many questions, the medic, whose name he'd learned was Emiko, gave Sakana the okay to leave the next morning and left to take care of other patients coming in from the Forest of Death. Temari left too, but not before giving Gaara a curious, yet appraising glance.

Sakana had avoided his gaze the whole time. However, for some unknown reason, he couldn't stop looking at her. Taking a deep, yet inaudible breath, he walked slowly over to her bedside.

"Are you going to be alright?" he asked, concern pitching his voice even deeper than normal. He didn't know what had ensued before she grabbed onto him earlier, but one thing was certain - he had never seen her that frightened, not even on one of their B-rank missions.

"Y-yes, I'll be fine," she said, a blush once again highlighting her pale skin. Nodding, unsure what else to say, he turned to exit, but then paused in the doorway.

"I'm glad you're ok. I was…worried," he told her. Then Gaara left, so abruptly that he never saw Sakana's shocked face behind him.

Sakana's POV

When she was released from the hospital the next morning, Sakana was still contemplating what had taken place the night before with Gaara. The fact that they had hugged still made her blush, and he had seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being, too.

Temari met her in the main hall to guide her to the room they would be sharing until the next round of exams began.

"Sakana-chan, are you doing okay?" Temari asked.

Sakana nodded, but it wasn't the complete truth. Her visions still troubled her greatly. Were they glimpses of the future or the past? Had they been happening somewhere as she watched from afar? Why had she seen them at all? All those questions and more were running and raging through her brain like wild horses in a closed corral.

She kept an eye out that day for Sasuke and his team but there was no sign. The next day however, the sound ninja whom Sasuke had fought in her vision arrived, both of his arms bound up in slings. Proof that there was at least some truth to her visions! But with still no sign at all of Team 7, Sakana had to resist the uncanny urge to go find them herself.

The last day of the exam she found herself sitting at the window of the room she shared with Temari, watching the forest with a mixture of anticipation and fear. She was searching for any sign of movement, but whenever she got her hopes up it was usually nothing more than the wind or some small forest creature. Then suddenly from out of the gloom Sasuke and his team finally emerged! They were accompanied by an older boy with a long silver ponytail and round glasses whom she vaguely recognized from the written exam. Sakana could tell, even from her second story view, that they were all in pretty bad shape. However, Sasuke was the worst off by far, forced to lean on Sakura just to stay standing.

Her head turned when she heard the door open. Temari was standing in the doorway, her fan on her back.

"Hey, Sakana-chan, we have to go. All the remaining Genin have been summoned. They told us to bring our combat equipment," Temari said to her.

Nodding, Sakana rose from her seat and grabbed her kunai and shuriken box from where it lay on her bedside table. After strapping it to her right thigh she walked with Temari down to the main hallway to where Baki, Kankuro and Gaara were already standing. Sakana flashed a small smile at Gaara before following Baki into an enormous room. There were balconies lining the side walls and taking up the entire far wall was a sculpture of two enormous hands forming the "ram" sign. It appeared that all of the other remaining teams and teachers were there as well.

Sakana quickly spotted Sasuke between a brunette girl and a tall boy with a long grey coat. He looked even worse up close and was grasping almost unconsciously at his neck. It didn't take her long to realize that his hand was in the exact spot where her own body now sported a mark no one could explain. At first she dismissed this as a coincidence, but when he moved his hand Sakana was shocked and a little scared by what she saw. On his neck was a mark almost identical to hers; but instead of looking pale and scar-like, his was pure black.

She took her place behind Temari in a line with Gaara at the head. They were standing between a Konoha team and the Sound team. The silver-haired boy that had been with Team 7 was standing on Gaara's left. Although she kept her body still, questions spiraled through her mind. "Why does Sasuke have a mark that looks so much like mine? Was he the one I heard screaming in the forest? Why did I have a vision of him? Does it have something to do with the reason he seems so familiar? What's the connection?!" With each question Sakana asked herself her frustrations grew. She tried to place them aside, to focus on the challenges that lay before her, but a powerful, unfamiliar feeling continued to draw her towards Sasuke in a way she couldn't fully explain.


	12. The Preliminary Matches

**Sakana was distracted from her musings by the Hokage, who'd begun to speak. She decided to tune in rather than ignore him because he was beginning to talk about the next part of the exam. Suddenly a man appeared in front of him wearing what seemed to be Konoha's normal ninja garb.**

****

"Lord Hokage, please allow me to explain the prelims," he wheezed, coughing heavily as he finished speaking. Sakana immediately began to wonder what was wrong with him. Was he sick? And if so, why was he here instead of at home in bed?

The man introduced himself as Gekko Hayate and quickly explained that, due to the large amount of Genin who'd made it past the Forest of Death, they now had to go through a series of one-on-one battles in order to narrow things down. A large screen suddenly illuminated next to the large hands statue and began scrolling through two sets of names. Sakana saw hers flicker by, but when the scrolling finally came to a stop, it read:

Uchiha Sasuke  
vs.  
Akado Yoroi

Sakana's eyes flashed to the young man walking towards Hayate, clearly confident that he would make it through the battle, although he didn't look like he could. The one she assumed was Yoroi also came forward.

Hayate ordered the rest of the Genin to head up to the balconies on either side of the chamber to make room for the battle. Sakana followed her teammates up to a balcony on the left, and then leaned excitedly on the rail, anxious to see Sasuke fight. However, she couldn't help but be a little bit worried...

"The first match - Uchiha Sasuke and Akado Yoroi. Begin!" Hayate said before nimbly jumping out of the way.

As Sakana watched intently it didn't take her long to realize what Yoroi's power was; he could drain chakra. Fortunately, if her hypothesis from earlier was correct, Sasuke didn't have much chakra left for his opponent to steal.

"Come on, Sasuke," she whispered quietly to herself, surprised that she could be so worried about someone she barely knew.

At that moment, however, Sasuke delivered a powerful kick to Yoroi launching him high into the air, and then immediately reappeared underneath of him. Suddenly a bolt of pain shot through Sakana's body, radiating from the mark on her neck. At the exact same moment, she saw Sasuke wince as red markings began to spread across his skin. Sakana did everything she could to conceal her pain so she wouldn't worry her teammates; fortunately it subsided Sasuke's markings began to vanish. He continued to fight, beating Yoroi left and right with a powerful assortment of kicks and punches.

"Lion's Barrage!" Sasuke shouted, delivering a final kick to Yoroi's chest, slamming him into the ground and finishing the match.

"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate called out, after confirming Yoroi's unconsciousness. As medics came and removed him from the field, a silver-haired man appeared beside Sasuke, probably his sensei, and led him away, brushing off the medics' offers of help.

Sakana had no explanation for what was happening to her. Not only did she and Sasuke have the same odd-shaped scar on their necks, but they both reacted to it at the same time! While the next match played out below, Sakana ran through all of the possible explanations for their odd similarities. The theory she kept coming back to was that they were related; it would explain why they looked so much alike…but not the strange markings. As she kept trying to puzzle things out, her theories simply got more and more absurd; she was only dragged out of her contemplation when Temari's name was called.

"Wish me luck, Sakana-chan!" Temari said, holding up a fist. Sakana bumped it, smiling happily as Temari jumped down from the balcony and onto the field. Her opponent was a kunoichi from Konoha named Tenten, who predominantly relied on an assortment of weapons for her attacks. Unfortunately for her, they were all useless against Temari's fan. Not surprisingly, her friend finished the fight in record time.

Sakana watched the next few matches with little interest. The battle immediately after Temari's ended in a tie when both kunoichi, a Konoha girl named Ino and a Sound girl named Kin, fell unconscious and were disqualified. The match after that didn't even take place because one of the two shinobi, an older Genin named Kabuto, forfeited. Sakana recognized him as the one she'd seen with Sasuke's team as they exited the Forest of Death. His forfeiture made a very bored-looking young man named Shikamaru the automatic winner.

She giggled when she heard him mutter in a tired voice, "Man, what a drag, and I walked all the way down here, too."

Sakana watched the next match intently because Naruto was fighting. It was against another Genin from Konoha named Kiba, but Naruto barely won...and it was only because he farted right in the other boy's face! That gave him the opportunity to use a technique he called the "Uzumaki Barrage", which was obviously copied from Sasuke's move from earlier. Sakana clapped for him nonetheless.

The match after Naruto's was a tragic one - a battle between two relatives; Neji and Hinata. Neji was obviously stronger, but Hinata never gave up. In the end, the match had to be stopped by several of Konoha's Jonin because Neji tried to kill Hinata! It took both Temari and Baki holding her back to stop Sakana from going down to help; eventually she would have broken free if the announcement for the next battle hadn't stopped her in her tracks.

Haruno Sakura  
vs.  
Mizuko Sakana


	13. Activation

**Sakana's dark eyes flashed across the room to meet Sakura's bright green ones as the pink-haired girl began walking towards the stairs. Sakana, a bit impatient to get started, leapt over the railing, did a couple of mid-air flips and landed gracefully on her feet in front of Hayate. She waited until Sakura stood in front of her before holding out a hand to shake. **

****

"Don't go easy on me," Sakura said, returning Sakana's firm grip.

Sakana smirked and replied, "You asked for it."

"The ninth match - Haruno Sakura and Mizuko Sakana." He broke off his words to cough into his hand and then continued, "Begin!" before jumping out of the way.

Sakana let go of Sakura's hand and did a back wheel kick, firmly striking her opponent across the jaw. When she landed she quickly jumped into the air again, forming three hand signs - the last being the sign of the bird.

"Water style: Water Senbon Jutsu!" she shouted.

A dozen senbon sped towards an unprepared Sakura, striking all over her body. But then she suddenly disappeared and only a log was left where she'd stood mere moments before. Then Sakana felt pain shoot through her left shoulder. She turned to see a smug-looking Sakura flying at her from above. Sakana easily dodged, grimacing as she pulled the other girl's kunai from her body.

"You'll pay for that!" she growled.

As quick as lightning, Sakana formed multiple hand signs before shouting "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" She opened her mouth and projected ten balls of water from her mouth in quick succession. Sakura managed to dodge a couple of them, but the rest knocked her to the ground. Immediately she was back up and preparing her next attack. As Sakana sped towards Sakura, already forming more hand signs, something happened to her vision. She could suddenly see Sakura's angle of decent and exactly where she would land. It was almost as if she were seeing a short distance into the future. When Sakura finally came at her, Sakana was ready for it.

"Water Style: Water Sphere Jutsu!" she shouted. Immediately, all of the water from the surrounding area, including everything that had soaked into Sakura's clothes began forming a large ball around the pink-haired kunoichi until she was entirely encased in water. Sakana then kept the ball stabilized with her hand, effectively eliminating Sakura's ability to fight back.

"The winner is Mizuko Sakana." Hayate announced. Sakana smiled and released her jutsu, happy at the shocked look on Sakura's face.

Sakura's POV  
"How...how do you know water style?" Sakura asked the petite sand kunoichi who had just won their match.

Sakana merely smirked, an expression that greatly resembled one she'd seen on Sasuke's lips many times before.

"You can't judge a ninja by their village," she replied, reaching into her pouch, to pull out a small canister of some sort, which she then held out to Sakura. The girl reached out to take it, but was stopped mid-motion by Sakana's eyes. They weren't blue anymore...they were red and black…with tomoe! Sakana had the Sharingan!

"It's just some medicinal ointment for you and your comrades. Please accept it," Sakana said, breaking Sakura's fixation on her eyes.

"Oh, thank you," Sakura said finally taking the canister. Sakana turned and leapt up to the balcony, while Sakura ran back up the stairs as fast as she could, headed straight for Kakashi-sensei. When she finally reached him, she was out of breath, but he seemed to know she had something important to say.

"What is it, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Sakana...she... she has the Sharingan!" the girl gasped out. Kakashi's eye widened.

"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked. Sakura nodded.

"100 percent! No mistake!" she replied, but before she could say more Kakashi had teleported to the other side of the room.

"Well, Sakana, it seems you're right about one thing - you can't judge a ninja by their village," Sakura thought to herself.


	14. Discovery

As Sakana finished healing her wounded shoulder a familiar female voice spoke up behind her saying "Excuse me…"

She turned to find herself face to face with Emiko, the leaf ninja who was friends with Naruto and, most recently, had taken care of her while she was in the hospital.

"Hello, again, Emiko-san!"

The woman smiled brightly, seeming pleased that Sakana had remembered her name. "Hello to you, too. I heard you finished your match and I was hoping I could borrow you for a moment to ask a few more questions about the mark on your neck."

Sakana turned to Baki, who hesitated only briefly before nodding once in assent.

Smiling, she returned her gaze to Emiko and replied, "I'd be happy to, what do you want to know?"

The leaf ninja looked slightly startled for a moment and then said, "Oh, I was actually hoping we could talk in private. Would that be okay?"

Sakana nodded and followed Emiko out of the arena and into a small side room that appeared very much like an office, with large floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the forest.

Once the door was closed behind them, the older kunoichi smiled guiltily and said, "I have a confession to make…I wasn't being entirely honest about why I wanted to talk to you alone…"

Sakana looked at Emiko curiously. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Suddenly, another ninja appeared in the room; it was Sasuke's teacher!

Emiko, still looking a bit guilty, replied, "This is Kakashi Hatake, he's a friend of mine. He wanted to talk to you about…well…I should probably let him explain. Is that okay?"

Sakana nodded slowly, a little confused, but curious, too.

Looking relieved, Emiko replied, "Great! I have to get going, I've got some research to finish up, but don't worry, you can trust Kakashi one hundred percent, okay?"

"Umm…Emiko-san, before you go…there's something I need to tell you…about the mark on my neck."

"The more information I've got, the better! What can you tell me?"

"Well…it reacted during the prelims…"

"During your fight?" Emiko asked, sounding confused.

"No…during Sasuke's."

Sakana saw Emiko exchange a meaningful glance with Kakashi before replying, "Thank you, that information is definitely useful to me. So…would I be correct in assuming it reacted at the same time those markings appeared on the left side of Sasuke's body?"

"Yes! But how…?"

Emiko grinned at her with a knowing smile. "I actually think I'm pretty close to figuring out what's going on with that weird mark…I just need to confirm a few things first - which is why I'm off to the archives. I'll see you two later, okay?" Emiko waved and then headed quickly out the door.

Sakana waved back before turning to Kakashi. "So…what did you want to talk about?"

"Before I begin, would you mind taking a look at your reflection in the window?"

A bit confused, she did so; letting her red eyes roam over her mirror image...wait…red?! Sakana gasped softly, staring hard at a face that no longer looked like hers – what was going on?!

"What...what happened to my eyes?" she asked Kakashi, confused and a little bit scared.

Kakashi chuckled good-naturedly at her apparent dismay. "Don't worry; it's nothing bad. What you're seeing is a Kekkei Genkai called Sharingan. Have you heard of it?"

The word Sharingan did ring a bell; Sakana recalled hearing Sasuke mutter it during the written exam, and for some unexplainable reason, hearing it spoken aloud seemed to have the same effect on her as seeing the symbol Sasuke wore - like her mind was trying to remember something from a different place or time…

"I've heard the word before," Sakana replied. "It's the Kekkei Genkai that Sasuke uses, right?"

Kakashi's eyebrow rose considerably. "Oh, so you've met Sasuke?" he asked in surprise.

"Well, we've bumped into each other a couple of times…literally on one occasion. And we sat next to each other during the first exam." she explained, shrugging.

"I see. Well, as you may or may not be aware, Sasuke is one of only three remaining members of the Uchiha clan, and the Sharingan is unique to them," Kakashi explained.

"Wait…I thought Sasuke was the only clan member left in Konoha…if that's true, then who are the other two?" Sakana asked.

"One of them is Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, and he won't be returning to Konoha anytime soon – not after nearly wiping out his entire clan."

Sakana gasped softly. "He…killed…everyone? That's horrible! But…then how did Sasuke and the other person survive?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No one's really sure why Sasuke was spared, but he's sworn to exact revenge on his brother at any cost. As for the other…my guess is because she wasn't in Konoha at the time."

"She?" Sakana asked, finally beginning to sense where this conversation was headed. "Am…am I the third Uchiha member?"

Sasuke's teacher nodded solemnly. "Yes, I believe you are."

Her eyes widened in happy surprise. Could it really be possible after all this time?! Her identity was no longer a mystery! Well…at least not entirely.

"So that means...I'm related to Sasuke somehow, right? That I have a family?" she asked hopefully.

Kakashi smiled at her enthusiasm and replied "Yes, it would seem so. Unfortunately, that means that your parents, whoever they were, are dead."

Sakana felt a twinge of sorrow, but not much. After all, she'd never really known them…"I understand. But, what I still don't get is why was I raised in Kiri instead of Konoha," Sakana replied.

"Now, that, I can answer – many years ago, when Kiri and Konoha formed an alliance, the Mizukage requested something of Konoha's to assure that they would remain loyal…a hostage of sorts. He demanded that the next female born into the Uchiha clan be given to him. The village desperately needed the alliance, and so the Hokage had no choice but to agree. You must have been the first born." Kakashi said.

"I see...I don't suppose I could ask Sasuke whether he knows who I am, could I?" she asked.

"You could, once he wakes up. He was exhausted and badly hurt after his battle, so I took him to the hospital for some rest and healing," Kakashi answered.

Sakana nodded in understanding and then said, "Kakashi-sensei…could I ask…" Tentatively, she moved her hair away from her neck to reveal the mark she received in the Forest of Death. "Did his injuries include anything that looked like this?"

Kakashi stared at the mark grimly before responding, "So it's true…Emiko said they were similar, but this is…"

He was just about to say something else when Sakana's keen ears picked up on Hayate's voice announcing that the matches were over. Over?! She hadn't meant to miss Gaara's match! Still, no matter who he fought, Sakana was sure he'd emerged as the victor; she didn't know anyone that could last long against him.

"You should go back to the arena," Kakashi said, "Once they've released you, meet me back here. Meanwhile, I'll go check on Sasuke. If he's awake we can go see him together."

Sakana nodded and exited the room, making her way quickly back to her teammates.

"What took you so long?" Temari whispered.

"Later…" was Sakana's only reply.

The Hokage explained that they would all be competing in the final rounds a month from today and that they should spend the time they had to train and work on new techniques. Then he asked Anko, the woman who proctored the second exam, to pass around a box filled with scraps of folded paper. Each of the Genin drew one out; Sakana's paper had the number four on it. After everyone had a number, Ibiki, took over and told them to call out their numbers in turn.

"I've got six," said a boy from the Sound.

"Number one, of course!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Nine," Temari sighed.

"Four," Sakana uttered.

"Three," Gaara murmured.

"Seven," Kankuro remarked.

"Ten," said Shikamaru, with a bored expression on his face.

"Two," Neji commented before another boy from Konoha said, "Eight."

"Which means Sasuke will be number five." The Hokage proclaimed. "Now, Ibiki, show them what's coming." The large, scarred man, who'd been writing furiously on a small tablet, turned and held out what Sakana could only assume was a tournament tree – then she spotted who she'd be fighting, and let out an audible gasp - it was Gaara!


	15. Family Reunion

A.N. If you haven't been reading my story and are just starting then go back to the beginning NOW!!!! there are multiple spoilers in this chapter! For those who have been faithfully following my story...this is the chapter you've been waiting for! Special thanks to BluEbErRy-ChAn for all the support! READ ON!

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After the Genin were dismissed Sakana went up to Baki and said, "Baki-sensei, Emiko-san wanted to see me immediately after this. May I go or do you want me to stay for a while?" It was only a partial lie...

Baki gave her a small smile and replied "It's fine, just meet us back at the hotel later so we can go over training tactics for the coming month." Sakana nodded and bowed to him before leaving the arena.

She re-entered the room where she had left Kakashi to find him reading a book. Sakana let out a small giggle when she recognized the title, Icha Icha Paradise. She knew what THOSE books were about, and had even caught Kankuro hiding some under his bed once. Kakashi looked up when he heard her.

"Oh, you're back. Sasuke's awake now if you're ready to talk to him." Kakashi said, gesturing to an open window. Sakana nodded and quickly followed the older man out the window and back through the forest.

Nothing was said as they traveled, and Sakana had to admit that it was definitely less scary having a Jounin with her. Of course she still didn't know how she and Sasuke had gotten the strange marks on their necks and she shivered at the thought that whatever had done it was still out there somewhere. Shaking her head to clear it of such foreboding thought, she focused instead on the question that most troubled her at the moment. Why did so many things having to do with Sasuke seem so familiar to her? Suddenly, a long forgotten memory began to form, drifting to the surface, something from her earliest days in Kiri, even before she'd met the Rakurais; Sakana unconsciously stopped in her tracks and let the memory wash over her.

*flashback*

She ran out of the academy, late as usual, and anxious to get home. Sakana had barely made it out the door when she ran headlong into someone; unable to avoid him, she tumbled to the ground.

"Are you alright?" a boy's voice asked as Sakana rubbed gingerly at a banged elbow.

Looking up, she saw a tall dark-haired boy wearing an unusual headband - he had a younger boy, probably about her age, on his shoulders. The two looked down at her concerned, as the older one offered Sakana a hand up.

"Yes, thank you. I'm sorry - I wasn't watching where I was going," she replied a little embarrassed as she accepting his hand.

"Don't worry," the older boy smirked playfully. "I get it all the time from my brother here." He gestured to the younger, who responded with a "Hey!"; Sakana giggled at his expression.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the Mizukage's office is, would you?" the older one asked.

Sakana nodded before pointing in its general direction. "Sure! I can take you there, if you want."

"Thanks! Hey Mom, Dad, I found someone who could show us the way!" the boy said, calling back to two adults who'd just finished talking to a nearby shopkeeper. The woman looked up and sighed before tapping the man on the shoulder and walking towards them.

"Thank goodness," she said, looking kindly down at Sakana. The woman had long black hair the same color as her sons' and friendly blue eyes. "And what's your name?" she asked, smiling.

Sakana smiled back and replied "My name's Mizuko Sakana, ma'am. What's yours?"

"What a beautiful name! I'm Mikoto; this is my husband Fugaku and my sons, Itachi and Sasuke," she replied, gesturing to each in turn.

Sakana nodded to each of them and then said, "The Mizukage's office is this way - let me show you." She started down the path as the family trailed closely behind her.

"Thank you for showing us the way; we're from Konoha, so we don't really know our way around Kiri," Mikoto said.

"No problem," Sakana replied, smiling.

Itachi, with Sasuke still on his shoulders, came up beside her. "So how old are you, Mizuko-san?"

"I just turned five," she replied happily.

"Hey! You and I are the same age!" Sasuke exclaimed. Sakana glanced back at the boys' parents just in time to see Mikoto and Fugaku give each other sidelong glances; she wondered what it meant, but her thoughts were interrupted by Itachi.

"So where were you going in such a hurry?" he asked.

"Home. I stayed late at the ninja academy and didn't want my parents to worry...but my house isn't too far from the Mizukage's office, so it should be fine," Sakana replied, shrugging.

"You're already in the academy?" an awed Sasuke asked.

"Yup! I joined three years ago!" Sakana told him proudly.

Itachi looked surprised. "At two? Really? You can't join ours until you're three...or maybe four."

"That's nothing!" Sakana exclaimed. "There's one person in my year who joined when they were one! The Mist academy can identify talent really early on."

"When are you going to become a Genin?" Sasuke asked.

She sighed, pouting slightly, "Not for five more years. That's the only bad thing about starting early - it's because most of the kids who pass the first time around have spent at least five years learning at the academy." She had actually gotten a compliment from her teacher just yesterday who said she was ready for the exam now!

"Itachi-nii is a Genin!" Sasuke said, proudly.

Itachi nodded, adding, "And I'm signed up for the Chuunin exams next month."

"Really? How old are you?" Sakana asked.

"Ten," he replied.

"Lucky. I have to be ten just to _become_ a Genin and you're already going for Chuunin!" Sakana pouted once again as Itachi chuckled.

"So...why are all of you here anyway?" Sakana asked curiously.

"We're here to speak to your council about a matter between our villages," Fugaku explained, finally speaking up.

"I see. Well, we're here," Sakana said, stopping in front of the office. "If you need anything else feel free to come see me. I live just down that street, the third house on the left."

Mikoto smiled at her again, looking almost sad. "Thank you again for your help, Sakana."

"No problem! Goodbye!" She waved as the family slowly made their way into the building.

"Bye-bye, Sakana!" Sasuke called, returning her wave.

"Bye Sasuke-san! And good luck on the Chuunin exams, Itachi-san!" she called back as they disappeared inside.

*end flashback*

Sakana gasped and ran her fingers almost unconsciously through her hair. No wonder she recognized Sasuke! She had met him before!

"Are you alright, Sakana-san?" Kakashi asked returning to her side. She looked up at him and nodded slightly

"I...I think I just had a flashback..." she trailed off.

"Ah, I see. Are you alright to continue?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, let's get going."

As they reached the edge of the forest Kakashi slowed down, turning to face Sakana. "I know you have a lot of questions; is there anything else you'd like to ask me before you speak to Sasuke?"

She thought for a minute and then said, "I'd like to know why Sasuke and I have the same mark in the exact same place...and why they seem to react at the same time..."

Kakashi nodded, as if expecting her question. "Unfortunately, I don't know, but Emiko is working on an answer as we speak; she'll figure it out soon. What I can tell you is how Sasuke got his curse mark - he was bitten...by Orochimaru."

Sakana's eyes widened. Orochimaru?! Even the ninjas in Kiri feared him! These marks must be not only powerful, but extremely dangerous if they came from him!

"Is there anything else?" Kakashi asked.

Sakana didn't really have any other questions, but for some reason she found herself nervously wanting to delay her meeting with Sasuke. So, she asked the first thing that popped into her head. "Umm...how long have you and Emiko-san known each other?" She really _was_ curious...there was an unusual vibe between the two of them - something that made Sakana suspect they might be more than just friends.

Kakashi chuckled at her question. "Too long," he replied, rolling his eye in mock exasperation.

Sakana giggled, and asked, "So...she doesn't mind that you read those...umm...books?"

His eyebrow shot up in surprise, but instead of getting angry at her question Kakashi grinned so widely that she could see it despite his mask. "Actually," he replied, laughter in his voice, "Emiko's the one who sells them to me."

This time is was Sakana's turn to be surprised, but she didn't get the chance to respond - they'd arrived at the hospital. Kakashi led her inside and made his way through the white winding hallways, stopping in front of a simple metal door.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked once again. To be honest, Sakana still couldn't calm her nerves. After all, she had barely met the boy inside...and when he found out they were related how would he react? Would he be happy to see her or lash out in anger? She took a deep breath and focused on one thing - the only thing - finding out who she was. Slowly, Sakana nodded and Kakashi opened the door.

Sasuke's POV

The young raven-haired man was looking out the window when he heard a familiar voice outside his door. He turned to see Kakashi showing in one of the female sand ninja he'd met at the start of the Chuunin exams - her name was Sakana, if he remembered correctly.

"Hello, Sasuke. How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.

"Fine, ready to get out of here," he replied, eyeing Sakana curiously. Kakashi nodded in understanding and then gestured to the petite kunoichi next to him.

"I assume you've met Sakana?" Sasuke nodded and Kakashi continued. "Well, it seems you two have quite a bit in common. Sakana, could you show him your eyes, please?"

"Um..." She looked really nervous about something. "I don't really know how to..." Kakashi leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Nodding, she closed her eyes as Sasuke watched on in confusion. Slowly, Sakana seemed to be focusing on something; suddenly she opened her eyes and let out a held-in breath. Sasuke's face fell slack with shock - her eyes - this girl had the Sharingan!

Kakashi spoke, answering Sasuke's unvoiced question. "It would appear that Sakana is the missing Uchiha girl. We came to ask if you might know anything about her family..." Kakashi said trailing off.

Sakana gave Sasuke an odd look; both hopeful and fearful at the same time - obviously wanting him to respond, yet fearing what that response might be. Could it really be possible? Could this girl really be...? Sasuke thought back - once he'd asked his mother if she'd ever wanted a daughter. There were tears in her eyes as she responded, "I have one, but she doesn't live here; she lives in Kiri. Don't you remember Sasuke - when we all went there together? We went to try to get her back? She's your twin sister..." Sasuke came quickly back to the present, starring hard at Sakana...his sister. All this time he'd harbored the secret hope that she was still alive - that one day he would find her...protect her from Itachi's murderous hands - and here she was...

The girl was looking down at her feet nervously. "Sakana," he said to her to get her attention. When she looked cautiosly up at him, Sharingan deactivated, he continued. "You and I...we're twins."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose in shock, as he looked back and forth between the two of them. Sakana gasped and then suddenly began to cry. Unsure what he'd said to upset her, Sasuke quickly hopped off the bed and went to her side.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"Y-yes. I'm just...so happy! I finally found my family, my _real_ family," she sobbed, eyes dancing with joy. Seeing her tears, Sasuke felt something in his heart twinge, something he hadn't felt for a very long time. As if on impulse, he hugged the girl tightly, and she easily returned the embrace, sobbing quietly into his chest. It was then that Sasuke noticed Kakashi was no longer in the room, probably giving them some space.

"I...can't believe I finally found you," Sasuke said, breathless for some reason. "I'd hoped...when everyone was massacred...that Itachi hadn't gotten you, as well. Now I know..." he trailed off, unable to say anything else because he had suddenly begun to cry as well.

"Please, tell me this isn't a dream," he heard Sakana whisper into his shirt.

He shook his head and said, "It's not...not unless we're both having the same one - you should know...Sakana isn't your real name." She pulled out of his embrace, with a confused look, and Sasuke continued. "Your real name, the one my...our...parents intended to give you, is Satomi."

She whispered it, smiling. "Its beautiful, but a new name could take some getting used to." He nodded in understanding. At that moment Kakashi re-entered the room followed by an unexpected, but familiar face; it was Nagataki-san - the woman who ran the books store he and Itachi had frequented together as kids. She smiled warmly at both him and Sakana - Sasuke vaguely recalled hearing that she'd recently joined the medical corps...

Sakana's POV

Emiko was with Kakashi when he returned to the room, and this time Sakana was even more certain there was something going on between the two of them. The woman had a slightly pouty look on her face and kept eyeing the silver-haired jounin with a irritated stare - whereas Kakashi's eye kept twinkling at her, like the two older ninja were sharing some private joke.

Apparently deciding to ignore him, Emiko focused on Sakana and Sasuke and smiled, saying, "Well, according to Kakashi, the two of you just uncovered in only a few minutes what I've spent the the past few days trying to figure out - you're twins." She turned to look at Sakana. "I'm sure you've realized it by now, but this pretty much explains your duplicate curse mark...and everything else that's been happening since the incident in the Forest of Death, which means..." she continued, turning to look at Sasuke, "that you're going to have to be even more careful about keeping those powers in check - when that mark affects you, it affects Sakana, too." Sasuke merely nodded at Emiko's slight admonishment. The older kunoichi sighed; looking unsure, she started to say something but stopped. "...Anyway, according to the head nurse, you're free to leave. I know you've got to train for the next part of the Chuunin exams...but you've been through a lot, so try to take it easy at first, okay?"

Sasuke silently nodded again and Sakana took the opportunity to ask Kakashi, "Hatake-san...will I be able to tell my team about this?"

The ninja shook his head and replied, "Unfortunately, only your teacher can know for the moment. And the only reason he'll be learning the truth is because I need to give him a reason as to why I'm taking one of his students to train. I want to teach both you and Sasuke a new technique, one that will hopefully take the focus off of your Sharingan; it's called Chidori." Both Sasuke and Sakana gave him confused looks and she saw Emiko raise one eyebrow at Kakashi, an incredulous expression on her face - the Jounin didn't seem to notice...or was pretending not to. He continued, "Sasuke, the final part of the Chuunin exams are in a month; just like the prelims, it will be tournament-style battles. The sooner we start training, the better off we'll be."

"Who's fighting who?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi shrugged, but Sakana spoke up. "I was there for the drawing; your teammate Naruto will be fighting Hyuuga Neji. My battle is against my teammate, Gaara. Your's is right after mine, and you're fighting Dosu, from the Sound Village. After that, my teammate Kankuro is fighting Aburame Shino, and my other teammate, Temari, is paired against Nara Shikamaru."

"Naruto made it to the finals?" Sasuke asked, shocked. He looked to Kakashi, who nodded in confirmation. "Who was his prelim battle with?"

"Inuzuka Kiba," Kakashi replied. "It was a hard-fought battle, and a hard-won victory. Sakana here took on Sakura; she had the element of surprise on her side." Sakana looked away sheepishly.

Sasuke turned to her and asked, "What does he mean?"

Sakana shrugged. "Well...I think Sakura was expecting Wind-style jutsu, which isn't my forte; I'm much better with Water-style."

"Not to mention her Sharingan activated in the middle of her battle," Kakashi added cheerfully.

"Yeah, that too..." Sakana whispered, a little embarrassed.

Kakashi was about to say something else when, abruptly, Emiko stepped forward, moving in between the Jounin and the siblings. "Y'know, it's just so great that you two have finally found each other! I have an idea! Why don't you go out and celebrate - my treat!" Handing Sasuke several bills, Emiko began motioning them quickly towards the door as she continued to talk, "Sasuke, why not take Sakana to Ichiraku? Talk, relax, get to know each other, have fun!" As the older kunoichi continued to shuffle them towards the exit, Sakana saw Emiko giving Kakashi a very familiar look - the same one she'd seen her mother use on her father countless times - the "_We need to talk NOW!_" look. Sasuke, not noticing, shrugged and left the room. Sakana tentatively followed him, trying not to be too concerned about the raised voices that began as soon as the door was closed behind them.

Once outdoors, she asked, "Umm, Sasuke...What's an 'Ichiraku'?"

A small smile flickered across her brother's face as he took her hand and replied, "Let me show you."


	16. Conversations and Fights

Ichiraku, it turned out, was the best ramen shop Sakana had ever been to. Although she was curious about what Emiko had wanted to talk to Kakashi about, she was glad to spend some time with her long lost brother. While waiting for their food they talked about all kinds of things. Sasuke was amused by all the pranks she had played with Sen and Ryuu. Sakana tried to ask about their parents but her brother gave scanty answers, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Sakana let it be, knowing that she would learn more as time went on.

Not long after they got their food Naruto showed up with an older woman that looked to be around Emiko's age. She was tallish, blond and had piercing sapphire eyes. Sasuke apparently knew her and she introduced herself as Namikaze Ameko. She had apparently been very close to her brother's family…especially Itachi…but the topic of conversation quickly changed to other things. Sakana also discovered that Sasuke and Naruto had a friend/foe relationship…mostly foe. They didn't get along well at all, but it didn't really surprise her; their personalities clashed worse than hers and Kankuro's! To avoid conflict they left soon after they finished eating.

Afterwards, they walked together back to her hotel. As they arrived, the two of them ran into Kakashi coming out.

"Oh, hello you two. Did you have a good time at Ichiraku?" he asked pleasantly.

"Yeah, it was great!" Sakana replied.

"I'm glad to hear it. I've talked with your sensei - everything's been arranged. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning around six. The sooner we get to the training site the sooner I'll be able to take a look at your full range of abilities. Both of you meet me at the main gates," he said before disappearing in a signature puff of smoke.

Sakana turned to Sasuke. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah…" He looked like he was struggling with something, but then a small smile appeared and he continued, "Goodnight...Sakana nee-chan."

Sakana returned the smile and replied "Goodnight, Sasuke nii-san," before happily entering the hotel.

Waiting for her just inside the door was Baki. She bowed politely to him and said, "You've talked to Kakashi-san..."

He nodded. "Yes; I'm happy you found your family. Would I be correct in assuming you won't be returning to Suna with us after the exams are over?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Sakana nodded slowly. She and Sasuke had already talked about her moving to Konoha so they could live together.

"Sakana-san...I, I knew you were an Uchiha," Baki suddenly said. Sakana looked up at him, shocked by his confession.

"What? Why...why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked, hurt that someone she trusted could keep something so important from her.

Baki looked down in shame, having trouble meeting her gaze. "I was forbidden to by the Kazekage. Both of us have known who you were before you ever arrived in Suna; it was the Mizukage who informed us. To be honest, I was opposed to you even coming to out village; I thought that you should be returned to Konoha immediately. No one should ever have to be kept from their family, whether they know them or not. However, I was overruled."

Sakana slowly nodded and replied "It's okay, I understand. All my life secrets have been kept from me so please don't feel guilty, Baki-sensei. Hopefully, now that I've discovered who I am, the others will be revealed soon, too."

Baki smiled at her and said, "I'm sad to be loosing you, Sakana-san. You are one of the best students I've ever had and I know Temari and Gaara will miss you." Then he winked at her, with a slight grin on his face. "I'm not so sure about Kankuro though..."

Both of them chuckled and Sakana said, "I'll miss you, as well, sensei. I'll never forget all you've taught me. I wonder...could you give the others a message…in case I don't see them before I leave?" Baki nodded and Sakana continued. "Tell Temari that I'll always miss her and that if she ever wants to contact me, she knows how; tell Kankuro to try to keep his temper in check; and tell Gaara....that I'll miss him the most and I'll never forget him."

Baki gave her an appraising look when she mentioned she'd miss Gaara the most. "You care for him, don't you, Sakana?"

A blush rose to her cheeks and she looked down, mumbling out a muffled "Yes". To her relief, Baki just nodded, not pursuing the matter any further.

Sakana headed for the stairs, her mind already churning with the possibilities that lay ahead of her, when Baki suddenly called out, "Some final words of wisdom before you go - Never forget who you are Sakana-san, and don't let anyone decide for you. You are you; don't ever lose yourself; if you do, your inner strength will disappear as well."

Sakana nodded and smiled, bowing once more to him before going to her room.  
Once there she quickly began packing her belongings. When the exams were over, she'd have everything else sent over from her Suna apartment. As she was in the bathroom gathering her toiletries, Sakana heard a knock on her door.

Temari's voice called out, "Sakana, I bought some natto dumplings. Do you wanna share?"

"Sure! Come on in!" Sakana shouted in reply. She heard the door open and close again before walking out of the bathroom, her arms full of various bottles. She smiled at Temari and dumped the items onto the bed, so she could continue packing.

"What are you doing?" Temari asked, gesturing to Sakana's bag. "We aren't leaving for a week!"

"Actually," Sakana replied meekly, nervous about how her friend would take the news. I'm not going to be training with the rest of you."

"What? Who are you training with? Yourself?"

"Not exactly..." She knew Temari wouldn't drop the matter until her friend got an explanation. Sakana felt trapped; she would have to try to get Temari's mind off the subject.

"Then who? Wait...you don't have a secret mission or something do you?" Temari asked suspiciously.

"No, nothing like that...I-I can't tell you why…but I'm leaving early tomorrow morning."

"Sakana, why are you hiding things from me? Come on, I'm your best friend; what's this all about?" Temari placed a hand comfortingly on Sakana's shoulder.

"Well, I can't tell you why but…I guess I can tell you who...Do you remember that fight we got into the first day we were here?" Sakana asked.

"You mean when that hottie Uchiha challenged Gaara? Of course I remember!" Sakana giggled slightly at the 'hottie' comment. If only Temari knew...

"Well I'm going to be training with him - Sasuke and his teacher,"

".....YOU'RE WHAT?! But he's an opponent! You can't just go off and train with him! What if it's a trap and he's trying to get information on our team? What if he wants to take you...out of the picture?! You can't just go gallivanting off with him!"

Sakana understood her friend's viewpoint, but she immediately jumped in to defend her brother. "He wouldn't do that! I've met him! I've talked to him! He's a nice guy and he isn't the cheating type. Look, just trust me on this, Temari! I would tell you the reason why, but I can't!" Sakana said, trying to stay calm.

"What is it? Do you like him or something?! Sure, he's hot…but I thought you liked Gaara. Or maybe that's it…maybe your trying to get Gaara jealous." Temari said with a sly grin, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

That's when Sakana's calm demeanor broke; Temari had hit a button.  
"I'm NOT trying to get Gaara jealous! Sasuke....he's...." Sakana started to say.

"He's what, Sakana? I'm waiting." Temari said, beginning to get angry herself.

"HE'S MY BROTHER, ALRIGHT!" Sakana yelled before immediately slapping a hand over her mouth. It was too late though. Temari's eyes widened and her jaw went slack.

"He's...your brother? As in your real flesh and blood brother?" Temari asked, astounded.

Sakana looked down and nodded slightly. "Yes...Uchiha Sasuke is my twin..."

"But that's...wonderful! Sakana, you've finally found you're family!" Temari exclaimed happily. She had often gone with Sakana when she traveled through Suna asking families there whether they'd lost or given up a daughter her age.

"Please don't tell anyone Temari," Sakana whispered. "This has to be kept a secret for now…it could put both Sasuke and I in serious danger."

"But why?" Temari asked, both curious and concerned.

"I think I've already told you too much…but you'll find the answer if you look in Baki-sensei's Bingo book under the name Uchiha Itachi. I can't say any more than that," Sakana finished, shaking her head.

Temari nodded in understanding and, perhaps as a peace offering, handed Sakana one of her previously offered dumplings. Sakana took it gratefully and bit in with relish, enjoying the sticky consistency of the snack.

"I really am happy for you Sakana," Temari spoke softly. "And you know…now that I think about it, you and Sasuke really do look a lot alike - sorry for getting so angry at you. Will you forgive me?"

Sakana grinned at her older friend and then hugged her gently. "Always, Temari. You don't even need to ask for forgiveness."

"So…does Baki know?" Temari asked with hesitation

"Yeah. Sasuke's teacher, the man who'll be training us, spoke to him just a little while ago," Sakana replied, taking another bite out of her dumpling.

"What exactly will he be training you in?" Temari asked.

Sakana shrugged. "I don't know all the details…but I guess we'll do some training with the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai."

"Really?! What kind? Does it have something to do with that strange mark on your neck?" Temari asked.

"No…but I did get some answers about that as well. The Kekkei Genkai is called Sharingan. It allows the user to literally copy any taijutsu or ninjutsu and to see through genjutsu." Sakana explained, happily wielding the information that Sasuke had explained to her earlier.

"And the mark?" Temari prompted anxiously.

Sakana grinned at her friend's impatience. "I was getting to that…it's actually not very good news. Sasuke has the real thing; this one is apparently just some sort of shadow. A missing-nin named Orochimaru did it, but no one seems to know why – although it does appear to give his powers a boost. All I really know is that mine hurts whenever Sasuke uses his…a lot."

"You've had a pretty busy day haven't you, Sakana?" Temari joked, but Sakana agreed completely. Not only had she found her family, but her Sharingan had activated for the first time, she'd uncovered the truth behind the strange mark on her neck, and been told that her teacher had known who she was all along.

"Yeah...you can say that again! In fact, I should probably get to bed. I have to meet Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei tomorrow morning at six sharp." Sakana replied, unable to hide a massive yawn.

Temari chuckled and stood. "Well…I'll let you get to sleep then. And since I probably won't see you in the morning - good luck with your training." Temari gave her friend a quick hug. "Goodnight, Sakana-chan."

"Goodnight!" Sakana replied as Temari exited the room. The young kunoichi quickly finished her packing, and then changed into her sleeping kimono. Although her mind was roiling with everything that had happened, exhaustion was taking its toll. Just seconds after laying down her eyelids drooped and she fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Sakana woke up early, around 5:30. She quickly changed into her training clothes and packed her kimono in with the rest of her things. After leaving her room key with the attendant, she exited the hotel, taking one last glance up at the roof as she did so. Sakana had hoped to see Gaara one more time before leaving…but he wasn't there. Sighing, she continued on through the still sleeping town, eventually making her way to the main gate. Sasuke was already there and he smiled at her when she came into view.

"Good morning, Sasuke-nii" she said pleasantly, sitting down next to him.

"Good morning to you too, Sakana-nee." Sasuke replied, a small smile on his lips. "Kakashi will probably be late; he usually is."

Sakana chuckled and nodded. However, Kakashi arrived only a short time after she did. He didn't say anything about where they were going, just told them to follow him – and together they left the village, plunging head-long into the forest.


End file.
